The Pain the Choice
by gleekymcgrey
Summary: She chose to stay, now she had to deal the consequences of living with the Pain in the Choice./For what we did not see. Set after Hannah refused to marry Booth/ Read&Review!


**THE PAIN IN THE CHOICE**

_ONE SHOT_, but I can also continue if you want me to. :) Let me know what you think of this one guys! I'm hoping still for your support.

And I would like to express my gratitude for the author and story alerts. I scrolled down on them today, and I felt really blessed.

**Thank you!**

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It took great effort, and even greater strength to be able to hold back her tears when he made her choose between being_ just_ partners, or nothing at all. The pain she saw in his eyes, she couldn't imagine. Brennan felt as if it wasn't appropriate to tear along with him. Especially in his most fragile of states. Booth wasn't Booth, and deep inside her, she would have done anything to have prevented for this to happen. _But, how could she have stopped that? _Hannah believed in herself. Her own beliefs, and decisions. She's a person, and Brennan respected that.

_"That's my choice?"—she nearly choked on her words, but Booth didn't notice her pain. In fact, his pain was already too much._

_He took the last contents of his vodka in a quick swig, before giving Brennan a passing glance. There wasn't much emotion in his eyes. There was very little of it, but it wasn't directed to Brennan. He looked away._

_"It's either you sit here with me, and have a drink or…"_

**_"I'll have a drink, then."_**_ She heard herself say. Where am I heading in this road? The voice of the deeper Brennan said. _

_Booth, even at that time when dominated with hurt, felt his heart swell. It was good to have someone, especially…that woman that he had spent the last six years with. He was happy she stayed, his pain would have been worse otherwise. But he couldn't act on his feelings. The pain…was **too much.**_

_"Alright Bones…" he tried to sound normal, but failed right off the cracks Hannah so freshly bore into his sanity. "…let's have a drink."_

_Wearing almost like the frown she'd been trying to keep to herself, she nodded at him. _

_"Bar keep."_

Now she felt stupid, and above all the things that came along with it; she felt vulnerable. Very fragile, and insecure. With Booth metaphorically shattered into pieces, _who would be there for me?_ She thought it selfish of her to think so, but…she couldn't shrug away what she felt. Despite drinking nearly half a bottle of vodka, she didn't feel the slightest effect of alcohol on her. She was quite temperate when it came to that; _Temperance_ indeed.

After silent hours at the bar, they called it a night, acted normal, and went on their separate ways. But, who knew a thing about normal now? Tomorrow, if a murder came along, they'll work with each other, but…what if there'll be no murders? Brennan shivered.

The thought…the very thought of not having Booth around…

Well, he became a part of her routine. Her routine and her life, actually. He offered her a ride home, but that wasn't exactly what he needed, and neither did Brennan.

"Are you sure?"—he asked; a part of him still concerned about his partner's safety. For the first time in a long time, he won't be self-assured she'd get home safely.

"Yeah, I'll…get a cab."—she replied, as quickly as he let go of his words.

-"yeah, alright." He mumbled to himself, and turned away the next minute.

She heard herself sigh softly. "Keep safe, Booth".

So she stood on the side of the road, pretending to be waiting for a decent cab to come by while he got to his SUV, and drove away without further ado.

Several cabs passed by and paused in front of her; Brennan didn't feel like taking one. She didn't want to walk…and her mind was playing games on her. But as soon as the sting of rejection sunk in once again, she felt tears welling up in the corner of her eye…and the next blue taxi that came down, she took it immediately.

The rain was hard; it almost felt like it bore marks on the vehicle's exterior. If she ever believed in irony, she'd have thought that nature had its way of swaying along with her, and Booth. With all the memories rushing in; that night when in his car when he saved her from the bad part of town, and tonight; -she finally lost it.

Her sanity was going wild…She didn't like to be perceived as a weak substance, but it was what she was now. Evidence pointed out…_screw evidence._ Inside the cab, she felt like the fifteen year old Temperance Brennan again…with no one to turn to. No one to care for her…_no one._ And now she chose to live in a choice made out of hurt and frustration.

"Keep the change…" She handed out a fifty dollar bill and made her way out of the vehicle as quickly as she could. Rain soaked her clothes all over…but who cares.

Brennan said to herself, all the while standing in the corner of the street, soaked up and cold, and shivering.

"We'll get through this, Booth. I know we can. I know you can."

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End file.
